Sudan lifts ban on Kenyan tea after 20 months
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Capital FM and UG Diplomat
Sudan has lifted a 20-month ban on Kenyan tea imports, reopening the market to exporters from Kenya. Kenyan President William Ruto announced the decision after meeting Sudanese Prime Minister Kamil Idris on the sidelines of the COMESA summit in Harare, according to Capital FM.
Sudan formalised the lifting of the ban through Ministerial Order No. 25 of 2026, signed on 8 November. The measure had been introduced in March 2025 amid diplomatic tensions linked to Kenya hosting meetings involving the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which is in conflict with the Sudanese army.
Before the ban, Sudan imported around 35 million kilograms of Kenyan tea per year, worth an estimated $70 million. The resumption of trade gives Kenyan exporters the opportunity to regain an important market for one of Kenya’s main agricultural sources of foreign exchange.
